U.S. Swimmers Rack Up More Records on Second Day of Can-Am Championships

VICTORIA, British Columbia—Another day of competition at the Can-Am Championships is in the books and the 2008 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team has racked up another handful of records. Saturday’s competition saw U.S. athletes take down two world records, four PanAmerican records and nine American records.

Leading the way for the women was Ashley Owens (Stockbridge, Ga.) who set her second world record of the meet during the evening’s finals session. Owens’ record of 4:39.44 came in the S10 400m freestyle. This time was also good for new American and PanAmerican records.

“I’m really excited to see what I can do in Beijing,” said Owens. “And, it’s not just me. I really think that the USA can take the top three spots in this event at the Paralympics.”

Owens wasn’t the only U.S. athlete to claim the title of world’s best on Saturday. Anna Eames (Golden Valley, Minn.) swam to a world record time of 31.83 in the S10 50m butterfly, which also set new American and PanAmerican records.

Also making a strong showing for the U.S. women were Miranda Uhl (Alachua, Fla.) and Iraq war veteran Melissa Stockwell (Minneapolis, Minn./Colorado Springs, Colo.). Uhl set new American and PanAmerican records in the SM6 200m IM with a time of 3:18.61 and Stockwell broke the American record in the S9 50m butterfly with a time of 35.18.

Lantz Lamback (Augusta, Ga.) and Justin Zook (Plymouth, Minn.) were the day’s top performers for the men’s team. Lamback set new American and PanAmerican records in the S7 400m freestyle with a time of 5:02.52, while Zook broke two American records. Zook’s first record came in the S10 200m backstroke (2:17.34) and the second came in the S10 50m butterfly (28.40).

Competition at the Can-Am Championships wraps-up on Sunday. Live results can be found at https://www.swimming.ca/liveresults/08CANAM/